As Fry Street Village awaits approval on a proposed drive-through lane, the project’s Houston-based developer is talking to local groups about possible tenants for the proposed 1920s-style development near the University of North Texas.

CVS Pharmacy is one of six businesses slated for the development, according to Tim Sandifer, project manager at United Equities. Other businesses revealed by San­difer during a recent local relations committee meeting at the Denton Chamber of Commerce include Snuffers restaurant, Chipotle restaurant, Juice It Up, Cafe Brazil, and More Fun Comics & Games, one of the original tenants of the Fry Street area businesses relocated when the developer razed the strip center it bought last year.

Calls to the individual businesses re­vealed Snuffers and Cafe Brazil were in talks with the company. Chipotle and CVS Pharmacy would not comment. More Fun Comics had been confirmed earlier this year and Juice It Up did not reply as of press time.

The Fry Street Village project outlined to take the place of the razed buildings at Hickory and Fry streets faces another review by the Planning and Zoning Commission on a revised plan for a drive-through for CVS.

On Aug. 8, commissioners sent developers back to the drawing board after the location of a driveway met with opposition. The driveway would have served as an entrance off Hickory Street to the CVS drive-through and a parking lot.

The development was expected to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 24, following a workshop next week to consider revisions to a special-use permit, according to Sandifer. The special-use permit would be needed for the drive-through.

City officials say the Fry Street project will be taken before the commission on Oct. 10 during a work session to discuss the entire project and get direction. If additional information is not needed and a quorum is met on Oct. 24, the project could be on the agenda.

At issue is whether the proposed pharmacy drive-through would affect heavy pedestrian traffic in the area.

Sandifer said the latest revisions place the drive-through lane inside the proposed development, which he believes will eliminate neighbors’ concerns.

The revision involves widening a historic walkway between buildings to 38 feet, allowing two walkways and a one-way drive to CVS. One side of the walkway will pay tribute to Fry Street history, and the other side will be dedicated to UNT history, Sandifer said.

“We feel we’ve isolated the drive-through from pedestrian traffic,” he said.

Mike Cochran, a longtime resident and a member of Save Fry Street, a group trying to preserve the area’s flavor, filed an appeal asking the city planning department to reconsider accepting the proposed revisions.

“They have understated the amount of traffic they anticipate,” Cochran said.

In a presentation to chamber members, Sandifer indicated that peak traffic for the drive-through lane would not surpass eight to nine cars per hour from 5 to 9 p.m. — a peak time identified in information provided by CVS, he said.

Cochran, in his letter to city officials, said the CVS Pharmacy on University Drive averaged between 30 and 35 cars per hour from 4 to 7 p.m.

“I checked it out and I counted 32 [cars],” Cochran said. He also questioned the length allowed for the drive-through on the plans, indicating the number of cars lined up would necessitate a longer drive-through.

Sandifer, who was on his way to board a plane late Thursday, said he was not aware of the appeal and could not comment without reviewing it.

The letter sent to the interim director of planning outlining Cochran’s concerns about the development was not believed to have been an official appeal, according to Lori Shelton, project manager for the city.

“An appeal is usually the applicant appealing a decision of the commission,” Shelton said by e-mail.

Euline Brock, former mayor of Denton, said she recalled a recent afternoon at the corner of Hickory and Fry streets when she saw thousands of students walking in the area.

“I do have very serious concerns about the safety of a drive-through,” Brock said. “This has always been a completely pedestrian area. It’s the kind of area we’ve worked a long time to create.”

Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp echoed Brock’s concerns.

“My major concerns are still a traffic impact analysis and safety issues for the pedestrian,” Kamp said.

Larry Collister, a Denton lawyer in real estate law, said he believed the proposed development would be good for the Fry Street area.

“From my perspective and not as a chamber board member, I think the project is an improvement, clearly, for that area,” he said. “I think, long term, it would end up helping the property owners, the university and the city as well.”

Fry Street Village, he said, is like any other development coming into the city.

“Change is coming to Denton whether we like it or not,” Collister said. “I’d like to see people putting their personalities aside for the better interest of the city and not letting this developer get caught in the cross hairs of some feud going on.”

Sandifer, when asked what the developer would do if city officials deny the special-use permit, emphatically replied it would halt United Equities’ plans.

“If CVS does not come, we’re not doing this project,” he said. “It’s [then] up for sale.”

CVS is the anchor for the project, Sandifer said, and will be the main attraction for people coming to the project, which will not include bars as tenants.

“We have no intention of leasing a bar at this location,” he said, adding that in his 23 years with United Equities, it has never leased property to a bar.

If the special-use permit is approved, the building permits would be filed within three weeks, with construction to begin by the end of the year, Sandifer said.

“We’re excited about this project,” he said.

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail address is dcobb@dentonrc.com .